Once A Friend Always A Friend
by Princess dogooder
Summary: Blanche and Dorothy must come together to help Rose deal with a crissis
1. Rose's Life Falls Apart

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Girls

* * *

The weather outside was horrible. It was thundering that was loud as a whip cracking in the night and it was daytime. The lightening looked like it was setting the night on fire.

The weather should have been a sign of things to come. Dorothy always felt like it was superstitious to believe in bad luck. Blanche was a little superstitious but she saw thunderstorms as **good luck **rather then bad. Rose was terrified of the storm. She was always scared of the storms since she was a child.

The phone rang. Rose picked it up.

"Hello?"

She paused a minute and Blanche and Dorothy heard her scream.

"Rose," Dorothy asked, "Rose what's wrong?"

"T-t-thank you," Rose squeaked out and hung up. She was crying hard. Blanche and Dorothy did all they could to calm her down.

"No," Rose said, "This is just a bad dream. I'm going to wake up any minute and this won't be happening."

"Rose honey calm down," Blanche said, "What happened?"

"Kirsten had the baby," Rose said, "Well babies actually. She had twins. A girl she named Denise and a boy she named Anthony. They were born today... maybe twenty minutes ago."

"Well Rose that's great," Blanche said.

"No it isn't," Rose sobbed, "Kirsten bled out. She died giving birth"

"Oh my GOD," Dorothy exclaimed.  
Blanche hugged Rose.

"Honey I am so sorry," Dorothy said as Rose continued to cry, "Is there anything we can do?"

"Well there is one thing," Rose said, "I'm the next of kin. If something were to happen to my daughter I get my grand-children. Charlie... my grand-daughter is 7. Her real name is Charlotte but they call her Charlie and the twins."

"Okay," Blanche said.

"I know you have a rule about children but I can't let them go into foster care. I just can't. My other kids are too busy with their lives to care for Charlie Denise and Anthony and-"

"Rose don't be silly," Blanche said, "Your grandchildren are welcome."

"Well I don't have a problem with it. But where are they going to sleep. Ma's room isn't big enough-"

"Well look Dorothy since your mom died Sophia's room has been empty four years. Why don't I take Sophia's room and I can turn my room into three rooms. One for Charlie. One for Denise and one for Anthony."

"Don't you think the twins should sleep together Blanche," Dorothy said.

"Oh they will for the first year or so but it's better to get the construction done with first."

"Thank you," Rose said, "The kids can move in after the funeral."

"Of course," Blanche said, "When is the funeral anyway?"

"Monday," Rose said, "I have to go to Minnesota to go to Kirsten's funeral and then-"

"We'll come with you," Dorothy said.

"Of course we will," Blanche replied.

"Dorothy we have to take a plane. You're afraid of flying-"

"I don't care," Dorothy said, "This is about what's important for you."

"Come on honey," Blanche said, "You go get some sleep now. We'll take you out to dinner when you wake up."

Blanche led Rose gently into her own bedroom.


	2. Blanche Remembers

After Rose was finally asleep Blanch and Dorothy went into the kitchen.

"Blanche," Dorothy said, "That was a good thing you did for Rose."

"Oh please," Blanche said, "Rose is like my sister. I would go to hell for that girl."

She paused.

"Besides," she added, "I know what it's like."  
Blanche put on the tea. She knew some tea might settle Rose down for a little while anyway.

"What do you mean," Dorothy asked.

"I lost a child before Dorothy," Blanche said, "My youngest boy. Rebbeca was 14 at the time. Jannet was 11. Doug was 7. Matthew was turning 5 and little Andrew was only a year old."

"That's awful," Dorothy said.

"It was hard on all the family," Blanche said, "George was especially distraught. He was driving the car the day Andrew was killed in the accident."

"I can imagine," Dorothy said.

"It also hit Rebbeca hard," Blanche said, "She got drunk one night about six month after Andrew died-"

"At fourteen?"

Blanche nodded.

"I was terrified. When I was pregnant with Becky George had nearly died after getting in the car drunk off his ass."

((Flashback))

_"George," Blanche said, "I'm just so glad you're alright."_

_"So am I honey," George said, "But let's face it. You're angry with me for getting drunk and driving."_

_"You bet your sweet fanny I'm angry about that. I love you. You could have been killed. Our child could have been without a father. You may not have ever gotten to meet him or her. Why George you almost died."_

_"I know," George admitted, "I did a foolish thing."_

_"You're damn straight you did," Blanche said, "Why I ought to heat you up for doing what you did."_

_"Probably you should," he admitted._

_"But I ain't," Blanche added, "For two reason. One, because I'm nine months pregnant and can't hardly move and two because I know you won't ever do nothing like that ever again."_

"What did you do about Rebecca," Dorothy asked.

"I gave her what she needed," Blanche said, "A large dose of love compassion and understanding. She was grieving and she needed support. I also got her into therapy right quick."

"Wise move Blanche," Dorothy said, "So how long did you grieve?"

"You never stop grieving," Blanche said, "But it gets easier. Eventually she'll be able to think about her daughter and smile because she **had **her not cry because she lost her."

Dorothy ran a hand through her hair.

"Well you call the contractor," she said, "I'm going to check on Rose."  
Blanche nodded.

"And let's agree to keep things as calm as possible for now," Dorothy added, "Rose doesn't need any more drama right now."

"I agree with that too," Blanche said, "Come on. Go check on Rose."


	3. Comforting Rose

Rose slept most of the afternoon. She finally woke up. Dorothy and Blanche were right by her side.

"Girls," Rose said, "I'm so sorry to put you through this."

"Rose don't be silly," Blanche sternly intoned, "You didn't put us through anything. We're family."

"Yes," Dorothy said, "Honey remember how you stuck by me when Ma died?"

Rose nodded. Sophia died four years prior from a heart attack. Dorothy nearly fell apart but Rose was the strong one. She made sure Dorothy took care of herself. She made sure Blanche wasn't pestering Dorothy. She took care of Dorothy's needs until Dorothy got back on her feet. Blanche was helpful too of course but Rose in this case was the stronger of the three. She even stopped telling ST OLAF stories. Of course she went back to telling them when everything got better.

"And don't you remember how you were the one that pulled me through when Big Daddy died," Blanche asked pointedly, "Friends stick by each other."

"When I was going through a hard time," Rose said, "you were always there for me."

"You know what I'm rememberin'," Blanche said, "The time that Dorothy's friend was over for dinner and I said to you let's go heat up the rolls."

"I remember that," Rose said, "I asked what the rolls did."  
Despite herself Rose smiled. Then she stopped smiling.

"Rose honey it's okay to smile," Blanche said.

"My daughter is dead," Rose said, "How am I supposed to be okay smiling? I'd betraying my child."

"Rose," Dorothy asked, "If you had died first would you want Kirsten to never smile again?"

"Of course not," Rose said, "I'd want her smiling and laughing and living her life. She's supposed to be living her life. She's not supposed to be cold and alone in a dark scary place."

"Honey she's not alone," Blanche assured Rose, "Kirsten is in heaven. There is no better place to be. There's no pain. There's no suffering. There's no stress. It's full of love and happiness."

"Then why am I so sad," Rose asked.

"It's not for Kirsten," Dorothy said, "Honey you're sad for you and for the twins and for Charlotte. You're sad because you lost someone precious to you."

"You know," Rose said, "I remember when my children were little. Whenever they would go through a hard time Charlie and I were always able to fix it. When I was going through a hard time Charlie was able to make things better and it was a wonderful thing. Now Charlie's gone and Kirsten..."

"is with Charlie," Blanche said, "they have been reunited."

Rose hugged Blanche and then hugged Dorothy."

"Does it ever get better," she asked.

"It's like when you're hurting," Blanche explained, "It never fully unscars but eventually it turns into something beautiful. It turns into memories in this case. You'll see Kirsten's smile in little Charlotte. You'll see her kindness in the twins. You'll see her protectiveness in little Charlotte. You'll see a picture that makes you think of her and you'll smile."

"Exactly," Dorothy said, "It's like when I think of Ma. I'll always love her. I'll always miss her but I'm not grieving anymore. She wouldn't want me to grieve. She would want me to be happy. She would want me to enjoy my life and be grateful for the time that I had with her and Rose, you can enjoy your life and be grateful for the time you had with Kirsten and you can look forward to seeing her again."


	4. She's Alive In Heaven

AN: This is the final chapter but don't worry. I'll be writing a sequal to this story soon

* * *

A week later Rose, Dorothy and Blanche took a plane ride to Minnesota. Normally Rose would be thrilled to go to go to her home but it was different. She wasn't going for her pleasure. She wasn't going to a family reunion. Rose was going to say goodbye to her daughter. As Rose was giving the eulogy she looked directly at Blanche and Dorothy and said the words Blanche told her.

"We are not here to say goodbye to Kirsten. She is alive. No she is not in her body. She's not in her Earthly form anymore but she is still every bit as alive as if she had been. She live through young Charlie. She lives through the babies. Kirsten is a beautiful person who I love... not loved, still love.

"Love **never **dies. She's not gone. She's just in heaven."


End file.
